Louw on the 'evolution' of a loosie
Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:37
It's been a case of adapt or die for loose forwards this year - at least in the sense of adjusting their approach to the game so as to make an impact without being able to steal ball very often.
Up to now, getting to breakdown quickly, staying on one's feet and securing turnovers has been bread-and-butter for every ambitious loose forward - but stealing ball at breakdown from tackled players has become all too rare.
And if adaptation is a tough 2010 battle for the best flanks in the Super 14 like George Smith, Heinrich Brüssow, Deon Stegmann, Tanerau Latimer, Phil Waugh, David Pocock (before injury) and now Richie McCaw (back from sabbatical), to name just a few, it's no walk in the park for 24-year-old Stormers' flank Francois Louw either.
"It's been tough," Louw told rugby365.com on Wednesday. "I like to compete for the ball at breakdown. The laws are now completely against my style of play, and that of a lot of other players, so we're forced to adapt if we want to have impact."
"But it's still early in the competition and everyone is still getting used to it. There've been quite a lot of penalties conceded and it's something we're focusing on so as to try and adapt completely," Louw said.
"All the loose forwards try and make impact where they can. I don't think we [the Stormers' loose forwards] have guys who just go into the breakdown. With the new laws it is a little bit harder. It's tricky - all the refs are interpreting it differently, but I think we stick to our defensive structure.
"If you're early on arrival you have a go at the ball; otherwise you get out and get back into your defensive formation. Any guy in our side is going to have a go if there's an opportunity, but we stay in our defensive structures, especially with the new law which is favouring the attacking team and making it a lot harder for the defensive side to get their hands on the ball.
"A lot of sides have decided to focus more on taking up space, dropping back into the defensive line again instead of competing for the ball," he added.
Asked how he viewed the Stormers' opponents at Newlands on Saturday, the Highlanders, Louw said: "They've got a very physical and formidable pack, but we faced the Waratahs who brought a very physical approach to the game and we seemed to hold up against them pretty well.
"The Highlanders are big, physical, strong guys, but South Africans pride themselves on that as well. We're just going to have to front up in all aspects of the game. There's no reason to stand back."
He said the Stormers' focus this week would be on execution.
"We had opportunities last week against the Brumbies and this week to finish off correctly is going to be vital - the focus will be on finishing. Our performance against the Brumbies wasn't up to our standards and is something we're going to have to rectify this week."
Louw was regarded as unlucky to have been left out of the Springbok team for their November northern hemisphere tour, but he is modest to a fault and said his focus was just firmly on playing to the best of his ability each week.
"It's my third season in the Super 14 and I'm just trying to work on my game and better it. Last year I was very unfortunate to get injured halfway through the season but hopefully I'll be injury-free this year and make a decent impact. Obviously I go into every game just trying to do my best."
He is enjoying the competition for loose forward spots within the Stormers squad, with Schalk Burger, Duane Vermeulen and himself as the starting trio but with Pieter Louw and Pieter Myburgh pushing hard for selection.
"It's a positive competition that we have. We drive each other," he said.
Playing against the likes of Rocky Elsom, George Smith, Phil Waugh in the last two weeks had been a wonderful experience for Louw.
"Some of the guys were playing while I was stiil at school, so I've always looked up to them. To play against them has been a massive privilege," Louw told rugby365.com.
"They're all great players and in every game you can take something out of it and try and learn something from the older and more experienced guys," he added.
By Len Kaplan